Cone drier and seed extractor



March 1958 K. B. LANQUIST I I 2,825,453

CONE DRIER AND SEED EXTRACTOR Filed June 4, 1956 v r 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR KARL B. LANQUIST BY :9 a 1146M ATTORNEY March 4, 1958 K. B. LANQUIST CONEDRIER AND SEED EXTRACTOR 2 SheetsSheet 2 Filed June 4, 1956 INVENTOIR lllll fl Ill- KARL B. LANQUIST ATTORNEY United States Patent CONE DRIER AND SEED EXTRACTUR Karl B. Lanquist, McCloud, Calif., assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture Application June 4, 1956, Serial No. 589,347 1 Claim. (Cl. 2092) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), sec. 266) A non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free license in the invention herein described, throughout the world for all purposes of the United States Government, with the power to grant sublicenses for such purposes, is hereby granted to the Government of the United States of America.

This invention relates to a machine for drying seed bearing cones and extracting seeds therefrom.

Seeds in cones, such as pin or fir cones, are difficult to separate. It is necessary that the cones be dried in order for the seeds to be easily broken loose. The present machine provides a simple and inexpensive apparatus for the purpose, which can be easily transported to convenient locations.

For a detailed description of the machine, reference is made to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a three dimensional view of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a front end elevation showing the end opposite to that shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, except that internal parts are shown in elevation partly broken away;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 7 is a section of an enlarged detail.

The machine is provided with a supporting frame 10 having fixed legs 11 and 12 at the back and adjustable legs 13 and 14 at the front, adjustable in height by means of conventional jack screws 15 and 16.

An outer closed chamber of the machine is provided with metal end walls 17 and 18 and metal side walls 19, 20, 21, and 22 suitably attached at adjoining corners as by bolts to angle irons such as shown at 23. Grab eyes 24 and 25 provide convenient means for receiving grab hooks of a hoist for loading the machine on a truck to transport it. A door 26 with a peep window 27 provides convenient means for watching operations within the machine and for servicing it.

A cone basket 30 rotatably mounted within the outer chamber is fixed to shaft 31 extending outside the chamber and rotatably mounted in bearings 32 and 33 carried by the supporting frame. The basket has screen sides 34 and has ends 35 and 36, one of which is provided with a cone loading door 37. In one position of the cone basket, door 37 aligns with a cone door 38 provided in the front end wall of the outer chamber so that the basket may be loaded with seed cones through the two doors.

A belt driven pulley 40 is attached to shaft 31 and is driven by a suitable electric motor and speed change mechanism (not shown) of conventional design. The motor is wired through a conventional type time switch (not shown) which may be set to turn the motor on and 01f at desired intervals and to cut the motor oif completely after a predetermined time of operation.

Heaters, such as banks of infra red lights 41, 42, and

See

43, are provided Within the chamber to direct heat rays onto cones within the cone basket. These heaters are wired through a thermostat 45 of a conventional type set to control the temperature within the chamber. A thermometer 46 provides a convenient meansfor checking the temperature inside the chamber.

Batfles 50, 51, 52, and 53 are supported within the outer chamber as by bolts 54, with the bafiles spaced a short distance from the side walls of the chamber. The ends of the bafiies are also spaced a short distance from the ends Walls of the chamber providing openings 55 and 56 so that air may circulate between the baflles and the side Walls, which are cool. The air laden with moisture from the cones upon striking the cool walls loosens the moisture as condensate or water. The water trickles down the side walls and drains to the bottom of the outer chamber from where it is removed by means of exit ports 57 and 58.

As the basket containing the seed cones is rotated, the cones are tumbled about and heated whereupon they are dried and the seeds are broken loose. The mesh of the screen forming the walls of the basket is such as to permit the seeds to fall through the screen but to retain the extracted cones in the basket.

The seeds fall into a seed tray 60 positioned inside the chamber and removable therefrom through a gate 61.

After a batch of cones have been extracted and the tray carrying the seeds removed, the extracted cones are removed by opening door 37 and gate 61, lowering the front end of the machine by shortening the front legs, and rotating the basket. The cones thereby travel toward the front and fall out through the open door 37 and through gate 61.

In operation a machine having a capacity of 3 bushels of pine cones or 5 bushels of fir cones will satisfactorily dry and extract seeds by setting the time clock to turn the motor on once each hour and maintain it running for 10 to 15 minutes. A run of total time of from 8 to 15 hours, depending on the greenness and moisture content of cones, gives satisfactory results. The basket should be rotated at about 20 R. P. M. The thermostat should be set to control the temperature at about F.

I claim:

A machine for drying seed bearing cones and extracting the seeds therefrom comprising an outer closed chamber having metal side walls, a cone basket rotatably mounted within the outer chamber and having screen sides of a mesh to permit the seeds to fall through the screen but to retain the extracted cones, heaters within the outer chamber to dry the cones, so that as the basket is rotated the cones are dried and seeds break loose and fall out of the basket through the screen sides and the extracted cones are retained in the basket, batfies supported within the outer chamber spaced from the side walls with openings permitting the moisture laden air within the chamber to circulate between the batfies and the side walls which are cool, whereby moisture collects as water on the cool side walls and drains to the bottom of the chamber, and means to remove the collected water.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 115,833 Eaton June 13, 1871 2,071,895 Oholm Feb. 23, 1937 2,320,755 Smith June 1, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS I 1,010,522 France Mar. 25, 1952 

